Particularly keen readers using personal copies of the Sunday missals will notice that this weekend's Second Reading is, in fact, simply the opening of St Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians.  This is not a part of the epistle that contains direction, advice, or insight -- at least, not at first glance.

As part of his greetings, St Paul addresses the Church in Corinth as "those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints."  In these words, the Apostle reminds us of both our Christian identity and our Christian vocation:  we are set apart for God and for holiness.  We are saved and made new by the sacrifice of Jesus, and our salvation and renewal are meant to be shared with others in daily, ordinary life.

Reflecting on this, then, do our present lives align to this?  Does our practice of faith currently include sharing our faith, as well as our hope and love, with others as part of our regular day-to-day routine, or is it limited to our presence at Mass or any other time we may happen to be inside a church?  How might our lives and the lives of countless unknown others be changed if we truly embraced our call to the mission of building up the kingdom and making disciples not just of ourselves, but of all others?